Russia ordered to pay compensation for Arctic Sunrise incident

The Foreign affairs ministry of The Netherlands tweeted a statement of the Minister Bert Koenders, saying he welcomes the decision of the court ordering Russian Federation to to pay some €5.4m in compensation to Duch vessel Arctic Sunrise.

Koenders expects Russia would to fulfill the court order: ‘The ruling makes it clear that ships in international waters cannot simply be boarded and the crew arrested,’ he said. ‘The Arctic Sunrise was making use of the right to demonstrate. This ruling will contribute to the development of the international rule of law, in particular maritime law and the right to freedom of speech.”

Russia has been ordered to pay some more than five million euro in compensation for the September 2013 Arctic Sunrise incident, in which Russia bordered the Greenpeace ship under Dutch flag and arrested its international crew of 28 activists and two journalists. The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague said Russia had broken its international obligations by boarding the ship protesting against drilling for oil in the Arctic Sea.

The compensation package includes €1.7m for damage to the ship, compensation for the crew and €625,000 in legal costs. Several members of the crew spent two month in Murmansk jail charged with piracy, and were realised in the framework of a general amnesty issued by State Duma.